Over the past few months, there have been some developments on social media and in my own businesses that have revealed a loop hole on Twitter where entrepreneurs can literally jeopardize their reputation, their clients, their revenue and their friendships within days if a former team member turns into a predator.
This is a problem that has yet to be touched by the media and that Twitter has yet to correct, despite the fact that the FBI has been involved and multiple businesses have been affected (and will continue to be affected until they address this issue). So, we need to protect ourselves and be proactive with our business safety.
Don’t assume that as a business owner, if you hire an independent contractor and things don’t work out, you will just be able to fire him/her and be done with it. When you hire someone to run your social media or interact with clients on any level, they have access to your reputation, which means they have the potential to destroy the business that you have worked so hard to build.
The perpetrator in this case has a bio on his site that talks about family and love and all things positive. He says all of the right things, which can be extremely misleading. We need to remember to read between the lines when it comes to protecting our reputation and our work. Aside from having a professional looking bio, this social media “expert” also interacts on social media with people in a very pleasant and friendly manner, which makes people think they can trust him.
Where the problem arises is that online, people can hide behind a facade of who they want you to believe they are and if you aren’t looking for the signs of a criminal, you will miss them. If no one bothered to check this guy out, they would think he was a great person to work with (until they decided to fire him for unprofessional behavior – at which point the positive energy would shift into predator mode).
When entrepreneurs don’t take the time to protect businesses with agreements and systems, and take the time to dig deeper into who their team members really are, they put their business at risk. However, if you make this task a priority, you could find a criminal record that would make you run far and fast from guys like this.
So, watch this video and learn 3 tips to build a team that you can trust. Once you find the right team member and you complete the 3 steps in this video, make sure to have signed agreements that lay out tasks to be completed, compensation, rules of engagement, what happens if the relationship doesn’t work out and legal ramifications if certain boundaries are crossed.
In other words, cover your booty from the very beginning!
Do you have thoughts, comments or resources to share on this topic? Please leave them in the comments.
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